"Can anyone out there tell me why on God's green earth is Mike Curtis not yet in the HOF? I am bias because he was and always will be my favorite player, but over the years I keep seeing linebackers being voted into the HOF who might have posted equal numbers (some less) but none struck fear in the hearts of players and entire offenses the way Curtis did. I remember reading on several occasions years ago that he was every offensive co-ordinators' worst might-mare as they always had to game-plan to run away from him, which was one of the primary reasons he was moved from outside Linebacker to the middle. I think the guy is certainly worthy on his fearsome reputation alone, but despite the fact that he had the misfortune of playing in the same era and Butkis, and Nobis, and others, he was still regarded as one of the very best at his position when he played. Will he ever get in the HOF and get the credit he deserves?"posting by: Softball Fan - BaltimoreSun2.com 8/20/07
"Curtis played with real guts and that takes a lot of heart!"Dr. Wm. Futrell
"Great Linebacker." David Hanson, Thief River Falls, MN - 2000
"Back in the early 70's the Balitimore Colts had a linebacker named Mike Curtis. One day, during a game, a fan ran onto the field between plays, picked the ball up from the scrimmage line and started running. Mike Curtis came out of nowhere and just leveled that poor bastard. I'm sure Curtis loosened every tooth in that guy's head and rattled every bone in his body. It was on of the hardest hits I've ever seen on a football field. When the guy regained his senses a few weeks later, he tried to sue Mike Curtis. The case was thrown out of court. That incident is one of my fondest Pro Football memories." mangy-ranger - 2005
"I was a big fan of Mike Curtis for his play, I was too young to worry about his personality or his politics, jokingly referred to by teammates as being slightly right of Mussolini". Todd S. Phillips - 2005
"Curtis is extremely underrated and should be in the Hall of fame as far as I am concerned. Bart Starr said he was the only player he actually feared but he was not about to cause any serious injuries to an unprotected fan, even if he was stealing the ball." Todd S. Phillips - 2007
"Enjoyable read by one of the all-time great NFL middle-linebackers. Mike Curtis' story is entertaining and funny. Now, THAT was football." Valerie J. Wood
"Bring back Mike Curtis, Lenny Moore, Roger Carr, Bubba Smith and Artie Donovan." Steve, Bel Air, CA 2007
"He has been my hero since I was a little boy in the early 70's." J. Hibbs - 2006
"Curtis was and still is the greatest player I've ever seen. Of course that was when men where men, football was football and athletes were the real thing." Jose Gonzalez, Miami, FL 2007
"Watching Curtis play converted me from an English soccer fan to an NFL fan." Mick Curran, South FL - 2006
"On Mike Curtis: Just think, he graduated as a Pi Beta Kappa from Duke University, a school not known for its football. And yet, Bart Starr said he was "scarier than Butkus." Not a guy I'd mess with. They don't make 'em like him anymore...sadly."Kyle - 2006
"Redskin linebacker Mike Curtis, who caused the funmble and Buffalo running back Jim Braxton who lost it, agreed completely over the most important aspect of Washington's biggest defensive play today. Braxton never saw Curtis before the Washington linebacker stripped Joe Ferguson's pass from Braxton's grasp at the Redskin 10-yard line early in the fourth quarter." Mark Asner, Reporter, Washington Post - 1977
"Mike Curtis is the best MLB in professional Football. Shuts down run better than any MLB in game...hits everything that moves on the field, including a fan a couple of years ago...is called 'Mad Dog' but not to his face."Joe Thomas, Colts GM early 1970s
"If Mike Curtis is healthy he's as good a LB as there is in the game."Don Kosleman Rams EVP & GM
"A genuine All-Pro, Curtis has been one of the NFL's premier LBs since his 2nd year in Baltimore and was the MVP in Super Bowl V when the Colts beat Dallas."John Owens, Sports Editor, Seattle
"The outdoor zoo known as Memorial Stadium, doesn't worry the Rams as much as the middle-linebacker they call 'the animal'."Steve Bisheff, Herald-Examiner LA, 1971
The following quotes are from www.Wikipedia.org and the following selected references: Vince Bagli and Norman Macht, Sundays at 2:00 with the Baltimore Colts (Tidwater, 1995); NFL.com; Paul Zimmerman, New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football (Simon & Schuster, 1985); NFL Films, "Mad Dogs and Englishmen", "All the Horses: The 1968 Baltimore Colts"; The 1970 Baltimore Colts"; and "Super Bowl Highlights: Super Bowl V". |
"My God, we put those Seahawks uniforms on for the first time and there I was playing with Mike Curtis. This was the best linebacker I had ever played with, a great guy and a man I continue to be friends with today. The fans loved us, and we loved the fans. We'd go to those Seahawkers (booster club) meetings, not because it was a payday - we didn't even ask to be paid - we went because they were our fans and we wanted to help them out." Bob Lurtsema, Seattle Teammate
"Mike Curtis is going to be the greatest middle linebacker in the game. I've seen him make plays that I thought were humanly impossible." Gino Marchetti, Football Player
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